Subject: Primary Documents (Sources)
3 rd & 4 th Grade
Material created at the time history was being made.
 Letters
 Newsreels
 Diaries
 Blueprints
 Maps
 Illustrations
 Period clothing
 Old postcards
 Early toys
 Documents
 Videos
 Relics, artifacts, antiques, etc.
 Audio recordings
 Newspaper clippings
 Photographs
 Old tools
 Eyewitness accounts
 Drawings
 Old posters
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 A girl found a box of letters written by a soldier to his
wife and children during the Civil War. Are those letters
primary documents?
 My grandmother found a diary written by a daughter of a
Civil War soldier dated from 1863-1865. She talked about
what the war was like in New Orleans. Is that a primary
document?
 I went visit my grandmother. She gave me a chest. The
chest was filled with her childhood items. She told me that
she loved her doll and toys. When I opened it, I found her
toys, some photographs and her birth certificate. Are those
things primary documents?
 I went to the library and found a newspaper written in 2005
about the first Louisiana Indian tribes. Is that newspaper a
primary document?
 My sister and I went to the museum in town. We saw
posters and buttons for the Governor’s race from 1980. Are
those a primary documents?
 Our town has a festival each year. In 1999, a newspaper
reporter wrote an article on the celebration and festival. I
found that 1999 newspaper at the library with that article. Is
that a primary document?
 Yesterday, my brother Sam wrote a story about the
Louisiana Purchase which occurred in 1803. Is his story
considered a primary document?
 One Louisiana Governor was Huey P. Long. He gave a
“Share the Wealth” speech in 1934. There is a film (video
clip) of Huey Long giving his speech in 1934. Is that news
clip a primary document?
 One famous painter in the 16th century was Leonardo Da
Vinci. He painted a special picture called the “Mona Lisa.”
That original painting is hanging in a museum in France. Is
that a primary document?
 At our town museum, I saw many old tools, spinning wheels
and other artifacts from the year 1899. Are those items
primary documents?
 My grandmother wrote letters to her cousin about Mardi
Gras festivals in New Orleans in 1959. She found the mask
that my granny wore that year. My cousin found the box of
letters and the mask and mailed the package to me. Are
those primary documents?
 I wanted to do a report on how Acadian people arrived here
in Louisiana. I interviewed someone who knew about it. I
couldn’t interview anyone who was there, because they are
not living anymore. I made a video last week about Acadian
life in the 1800’s. Is that a primary source?
 My father told me a story about how the Superdome was
built in the 1970’s. My dad was 19 years old when it opened
in 1975. He said he remembers everything about the
opening. My dad told me the story. He took pictures and
bought souvenirs that day. Would the story he told me, the
photos and other items be considered primary sources?
 When I went visit my great grandmother last summer, I
found a box of old postcards that her grandfather mailed
while he was fighting in World War I. Are those postcards
primary documents?
 A month ago, I read a book about the Civil War. I enjoyed
learning about the Civil War very much. I had to make a
report, so I wrote my research paper on how the Civil War
began in 1861. Is my report considered a primary
document?
 When I went to the library last week, I saw a map that was
made in 1960. It shows the streets and roads in my town at
that time. It was a surveyors map that the mayor of the
town wanted to have printed at that time. Is that 1960 map a
primary document?
 When my mom was born, my grandmother started a diary
for my mother. She wrote about what was happening at the
time she was born. In the diary, she also put my mom’s birth
certificate, baby pictures, newspaper articles, a snip of her
hair and the document with her baby handprints and
footprints. Are those all primary documents?
 At a museum in Washington D.C., a historian found a letter
written by Abraham Lincoln in 1864. Is that letter a primary
document?
 I was looking in the attic for information about my great, great
grandfather. I found his birth certificate, his high school diploma,
some letters he wrote during World War II, his uniform, his
wedding ring and his marriage certificate to my great, great
grandmother. Are those all primary documents?
 My great grandfather sang a song on old recorder. The
museum has the audio tape of his singing. On the tape his
says the year is 1935 and then he sings his old French
song. Is that audio recording a primary document?